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Andean weaving was among the arts practiced in colonial Latin America that retained the closest connection to Precolumbian traditions. The flocks of alpacas and other camelids that had yielded tapestry cloth of a beauty astonishing to the Spanish newcomers continued to anchor life among the Aymara and Quechua peoples. The gradual incorporation of European motifs into their garments did not alter the centrality of textiles to the value system of these indigenous communities.

Johanna HechtDepartment of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art